I came in for landing, hooves touching down quietly on the wooden floor just outside the market.
I didn't go to the market very often normally just because of what is happening now. Ponies noticed me almost at once.
Ponies parting before me, bowing. Smiling.
Treating me like I had all the answers. Like just because I had a horn and wings I deserve special treatment.
Like I had all the answers.
I hated it. I enjoyed going here much more when I pretended to be Night Wind, just another pony.
But if my ponies found out how I felt, they would be dismayed.
So I smiled back and answered the bows with nods of my own. At least it wasn't that uncommon for me to come down to the town that I drew a crowd. Shade and Leaf followed behind me as I walked through the crowd.
I took in the scents, the sounds. The sights of the market are all around me.
There was a buzzing of wings and Amber landed to walk beside me.
I smiled at her, "Good morning, Amber."
"Good morning, sir," she said as she scanned the crowds, not even glancing in my direction.
After getting shot, you would think I would be nervous in crowds. Didn't happen, but apparently it applied to Amber instead. Anytime I did something like this, she came out of hiding to walk right next to me.
A scent caught my nose and my hooves turned, heading towards a market stall mared by a batpony mare. Pretty young, maybe in her early twenties at most and in the classic grey and black colours, a cutiemark of a bee on her flank.
"Good morning," I said with a smile and she did a double take away from working the grill.
"G-Good morning your majesty!" she quickly said with a bow.
I nodded in turn, "What do you have here…" I asked, a small bit of dream magic fishing her name out for me, "Honeydew?" I asked with a smile, "Smells good."
She blushed to the tips of her ears, "Oh.. Uhm... I sell grilled treats, your majesty. N-nothing fancy mind you! Just grilled and candied fruit and meat."
"I think it smells good," I said and studied the list written behind her, "May I have a spicy lizard on a stick, please?"
"Of course, your majesty!" she said and quickly started to prepare one that was on the grill already before holding it out for me a minute later, "On the house!"
I smiled and took it, "Nothing of the sort," I said as I shook my head and used my magic to count out the price and a bit extra before floating it over, "Here you go."
"T-thank you, sir! Uhm… Your Majesty!"
"Have a good morning, Honeydew," I told her with a smile and moved off again, holding my lizard on a stick in my hoof instead of magic as I continued through the early morning crowds, shopping for dinner or whatever they were looking for after work.
Nibbling on the lizard which really tasted as good as it smelled, all sweet and spicy along with charcoal grill taste, I made my way across the market towards the merchant stories.
Not seeing a good place to dispose of the stick and skeleton, I charged a teleport spell and tossed it as far into the forest as I could.
"Where to now, sir?" Amber asked.
"Not sure actually," I said with a smile, "Just walking. We're not too far from the guard training compound, maybe go there."
"Yes, sir," Amber agreed.
So my hooves headed in that direction. It was nice just taking a walk actually, it gave me time to think. Not that it helped exactly, by the time I reached the training platform, I still had not solved the problems facing Nocturnis.
Would have been really nice if I had.
The ponies on the field seemed to be practicing with spears. The majority were mares, but it actually seemed to be close to the population ratio from what I could see, close to a four to one mare to stallions.
Most of them bats with the next category being pegasi and then some unicorns and earth ponies mixed in. But all of them are running the same drill with the same sort of spear.
A medium length one, long enough to fend something dangerous off without being too long to move it in the forest.
"Your majesty!" a batpony lieutenant said in greeting as he trotted up to bow for me, wearing the Nocturnis pattern armour, "We were not informed of an inspection!" he said as he bowed, wings spreading.
I smiled, "No inspection, Silent Wing," I told him, "I'm just taking a walk and got curious."
"Of course, sir," he said and stood up.
The ponies kept training. Either they had not noticed me or they were good enough to ignore me.
Kinda hoped for both to be honest.
I watched for a couple of more seconds before I looked at Silent Wing, "Could you show me that form from the start?"
"Of course, sir," he said and quickly trotted off to get one of the practice spears before returning.
As I watched, he went through it. Low guard, stab upwards, retreat, feint stab, mid stab followed by two steps forward and two high stabs.
I could see how it would work.
Low guard to protect against a charge, make the enemy wary with a high thrust towards their muzzle, then back up and feint in case they try to counter. If they then move in because of the faint you force them back and stab them in the face.
"May I try it?" I asked with a smile.
Silent Wing hesitated but hooved over the spear, "Of course, your majesty," he said and retreated a couple of steps.
I adjusted the spear with my right foreleg, shifting the weight into the guard position, shifting the rest of my three hooves into a balanced stance.
Stab upwards, two steps back, feint with tip, back slightly, stab forward, two fast steps forward, stab up, stab up.
"How did I do?" I asked as I raised the spear, leaning it against my shoulder as I looked at him again.
"It was actually very good, your majesty," he said, almost sounding surprised, "Have you used a spear before?"
I smiled at the obvious exaggeration, "A bit, but it's not my best weapon, especially when not using my magic," I said and hooved it back to him, "And I'm quite out of practice. Thanks for showing me Lieutenant."
"It was my pleasure, sir! If I may ask, what weapon do you prefer?"
I considered that for a second, "If I had to pick, I'd say the chakram."
"I don’t think I have ever heard of that one, sir."
I smiled and shook my head, "It's an old unicorn weapon. You can't really use one effectively without a horn, it's barely used anymore. Much easier to just use a spear, sword or crossbow. But it was a gift from my wife and one of the first ones I learned."
Silent Wind smiled and nodded, "I understand, your majesty."
"I'll get out of your mane now," I said and gave him a nod, "And let you actually get back to doing something useful. Have a good morning, Lieutenant."
"You as well, your majesty," he said with another bow.
I turned and left.
I should head back home, I had my own duties to attend to before it was time for bed.
Am I the only one that thinks the other shoe id gonna drop soon? Like right when page gets everything in order something bad is going to happen
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Yes, but the big question is what is going to drop. If i had to guess based on the title of this Novel, it is going to be something with his alicorn powers. This is because the title is Other Duties As Required, so we know that this chapter is all going to be about duties that Page has. His duties to his people, his duties to his lovers, his duties towards his friends, and his duties towards himself. Currently it is all being some what balanced but I can see, that if Page had to deal with anything else it would be a crises. Also the reason I'm leaning towards his alicorn powers, is because it has been shown at the end of the Looking Glass, of him manifesting the dream realm into the physical world. So what if there are special duties that Luna didn't have that Page now does. Because Lunas duties where to raise the moon, and clean up the Nightmares. What if there is more to the dream realm that Luna just hasn't discovered.
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This is the longest response to a comment I have ever gotten in all my years of reading fanfiction.
Anyways I can see that. But i think his powers will truly awaken and any story he tells will become a reality. If he puts magic into it and has people believe his tale it will become true. Kinda like orks from 40k
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That might be a problem seeing as racial tensions are rising, all it would take is a nasty rumor and bamn!!! Race riot.
Nice, I found a new chapter before going to bed. I even found an opportunity to repost a meme from an earlier story ("Duties").
camo.fimfiction.net/IhQdAYExiB3gFC0acw3qkDd2bspSAz791KCOcbseAO0?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgflip.com%2Fwh2iv.jpg
Wasn't highness for prince and princesses?
And majesty for kings and Queens?
Obviously because he open up Sanctuary to the public with limited access for the royal areas for privacy reasons.
Moderating a minecraft server isn't easy.
Wonder if it will have a chat function.
His dream minecraft server is ready for public eyes obviously
Why otherwise expand the size of the dream bubble of Sanctuary
-Nocturnis will see the majestic Changeling tower with its spa and other entertainment, resembling the
ChangelingGriffon monday.-There will be Cadance entertainment park, for adults of all sizes. With adult toys from plain to most exotic, with a Tantabus hooker to entertain the guests. ♡
-There will be the theater of the dream symbiotes, showing of great horror and action stories. ♡
-There will be the great adventure that is walking thrill of the great sand dunes, letting occasional one or two phallus uncover itself as it travels throughout the area. 20 in total, exclusive sneak peak to next year Playcolt edition of 20 exotic delights of 20 different males of 20 different type of species alongside their sub race variants !!!
Nice
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I think there was a subtile foreshadowing.
He used his dream realm power as a library of knowledge!
BLANK PAGE CREATED A DREAM-REALM INTERNET?!
That is even better than human internet in time!
All you need is to think about a topic while falling asleep and *bang* you are in the dream realm section of Sanctuary for it.
-Dream Chatrooms
-Dream Equestria daily newsletters
-Dream Playcolt edition
-Dream Changeling delights for adult section
-Dream education center, from literature and library to the coat tight royal picture collection.
---Dream space adventure games, current selection:
- Deceit / Among Us
- Civilisation V
- Alien versus Predator
- Resident Evil: Racoon City / Outbreak / etc etc
- Pocket Monsters lewd Edition: Got to bed them all
- X-Com: Deep terror / Enemy Unknown/ Enemy within / Interceptor
- Starcraft 1&2
- Starhorse: Clone wars / Phantom menace/ etc etc
- Moon base Alpha
- HALO: REACH / etc etc
- Battlesteed: With all its various games
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Yes, and the characters are doing it on purpose.
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If so will it make the alicorns true immortals, because the general population already believes that they are immortal. So will it just expanded all alicorns powers because the people already believe that they are demi gods. With an actual religion around them in griffonia
Page: Amber..stop that. You can't hiss at anyone you feel that looks at me wrong.
Amber: It was being suspicious.
Page: It was a butterfly!
Amber: A butterfly AT NIGHT! Super suspicious!
Page:
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O snap... I totally forgot about them.
(Not really)
Though it's surprising they didn't have official a request to open 'the church of the Alicorn fertility', to increase the spreadof love from the Cadance and Flurry Heart followers, the sun and moon butt worth shipping crowds and finally the purple twins with the stud muffin Alicorns.
Religion can be funny that way
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Are you sure it wasn't a firefly in stealth mode?
I feel like I missed a story somewhere. I do not remember Page being shot in a crowd nor him being set up with Celestia.
Fool, now the guard will now introduce chakrams for unicorns during parades only on a basis that their majesty likes seeing ponies chucking them. With this trend started some guards will seriously start using them, later, civilian young unicorns will learn to use them too, only to be that who cool kid who knows knife tricks. For chuck's sake!
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This story has many precursors running a long storyline.
Neighsay tried a assassination on Blank Page.
Some readers alongside me had quite some fun in the comment section when it happened.
Celestia and Page came together last story.
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Though sharing the same stud can be... interesting:
camo.fimfiction.net/vly-KywvejkTmCEkBSFiDwTVqbCcHAw6AJT4aCmjonk?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F9d%2F16%2F45%2F9d16459c7508e4ebc3d264e8703eb080.gif
Hey Hiver!
Is Zephyr, Fluttershy brother a Thestral as well?
Than again... for all we know he isn't:
Chapter 26 in which Celly invents investment banking. let the shares flow!
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Couldn't it be a moth painted to look like a butterfly?
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A moth ninja disguised as a butterfly, obviously. Very dangerous to anything that’s not a natural predator of moths.
Pretty sure it has more to do with what you did for them.
And what you keep doing for them
Now isn't that useful